Making Science Approachable Through Retail Design

[ Article by Kelly Kovack originally published on BeautyMatter.com on May 26th, 2021 ]

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Most personalized beauty concepts are online DTC propositions based on a proprietary “algorithm,” but precision skincare start-up Revea decided to launch with a brick-and-mortar location in San Francisco.

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“We invested in getting it right for consumers,” founder and CEO Chaz Giles said of the decision to launch with a branded retail presence, “We knew precision skincare was possible and that it could ultimately be scaled to online. But, to deliver precision online, we needed a physical location to connect the super-advanced (and expensive) diagnostics to the technologies that can scale to mobile and at home. We also recognize, in an industry filled with so much smoke and mirrors, it’s important that consumers can see our science, meet our team, and see we walk the talk.”

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The design direction for Revea’s retail outpost was inspired by Radiance, which is a clinical measure of how light interacts and reveals our skin biology. To celebrate Radiance, each material and form was thoughtfully selected and seamlessly integrated at every touchpoint to encapsulate the beauty and physics of how light reflects and refracts. The brand’s minimal graphic aesthetic celebrates the smallest details highlighting each material and its opportunity to reveal dimensionality.

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Kana Panchmatia, founder and VP of Design at Revea, shared, “I want to make science approachable, empowering and luxurious. When designing each element of the Revea experience, I incorporate everything from physics to chemistry to biology into the design process. Whether it’s to inform the material selection, retail design or communication, I embrace science.”

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The Revea measurement booths feature layered glass with internal lighting to mimic the illumination as seen in the serum packaging. Both the booth and serum packaging feature the brand’s Revea Green—a color selected to match every skin undertone. The packaging displays a singular piece of Revea Green foil that provides contrasting reflectivity to the rich Revea Green linen.

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“When designing our measurement booths that house some of the most advanced skincare imaging in the world, believe it or not, it all started as a napkin sketch. I had a vision of how it should come together—it should be a booth; it should mimic a teacup ride to automatically move consumers. Full credit to my amazing team for bringing every detail to life.” Panchmatia continued, “Skin health is more than just what meets the eye. By going beyond the surface of our skin and identifying the root cause, we can reveal skin health never seen before. Similarly, I wanted to incorporate brand details that reveal themselves as you interact with Revea from the store experience to the customer’s at-home experience.

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Cleanser Bar and Robes: Consumers enter the cleanser bar to wash their face, slip into robes designed by Nathaniel Paul to protect clothes from the water, and tie back hair to prepare for measurements. The robes were designed with an iridescent green to capture and reflect different colors of light and are embroidered with a muted Revea monogram.

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Consultation Zone: Within seconds, the REVEA ML model processes 100 million data points to prepare each consumer’s consultation dashboard. Consumers sit with a bio associate to walk through their consultation dashboard to discuss their Revea7 parameter health and precision formulas.

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Consultation: The dashboard shows the Revea7 parameters, which include Revea Radiance, Skin Tone, Hydration, Surface Texture, Dermal Fibers, Energy Supply, and Skin Milieu.

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Measurement 1: SFDI uses visible and near-infrared light to measure skin’s energy supply (oxygen saturation and microvasculature flows) and skin’s ability to rejuvenate. It also calculates your scattering coefficient, which evaluates the structural tightness of your collagen elastin

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Measurement 2: Measures a variety of surface hydration sub-parameters to understand the skin’s hydration. One such measurement is the TEWL, which measures how much water passively evaporates from your skin from the surface and deeper layers of skin. TEWL can inform about skin barrier defects, physical insult, or pathological conditions such as ecz

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‍Moisturizer Flights: We recognize that skincare is a ritualistic, pampering experience that should and can be enjoyed. While the AM and PM serums are bespoke and crafted by master formulators based on measurements, the moisturizer is selected by the consumer based on the sensorial texture preference. Each consumer is presented a moisturizer flight containing the Masterpiece Collection of four distinct moisturizer textures.

‍Moisturizer flights 2: The four moisturizers consist of the following textures:No. 9 – An aqueous gel
No. 21 – A gel cream
No. 25 – Water in oil emulsion
No. 33 – Creme

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